1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for a dynamic interface protocol. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for a dynamic interface protocol, which provides output via an output terminal in accordance with different interface protocols in different operating modes.
2. Description of the Related Art
In modem digital systems, there are integrated circuits (IC) that have to provide outputs in accordance with different interface protocols in different operating modes. For example, an IC in a digital system may provide data, such as an MPEG (motion picture expert group) bit stream, received from a DVD servo directly as output in accordance with the IDE (integrated drive electronics) protocol in an operating mode. Additionally, the IC may provide video signals obtained from decoding the data in accordance with the CCIR656 standard proposed by ITU (International Telecommunication Union) in another operating mode.
In conventional systems, due to differences among interface protocols, integrated circuits provide output via different output terminals during different operating modes. Basically, those operating modes do not activate simultaneously in most cases, that is, an IC is usually in a single operating mode at a time. Since multiple output terminals increase the number of output pins, the complexity and the cost of such integrated circuits, it is desirable to have an apparatus to consolidate multiple interface protocols to a single output terminal.